In life, it is natural to feel you are at home when you are among friends and family, and are living with pride and dignity, making your dreams come true and developing yourself to advance society. This said, I can say that we are always in search of what is better, which is what makes us think of traveling and living far from the aforementioned. We find people who leave their homelands either to seek out their dreams and aspirations or out of compulsion, escaping the death caused by wars. In the end, we end up far from our beautiful memories that remain preserved in old photo albums smelling of childhood laughter, with the faces of friends and family that bring us warmth and make our hearts beat faster in longing for the idyllic past. A Longing Heart, with it's heart pricked by thorns, represents longing. The heart always longs for everything beautiful from the past, with its pictures made dusty by soil watered by the forefathers. It longs for the lovely fragrance of the flowers of the almond orchards and the varied odors of crops cultivated alongside homes where families spend pleasant evenings together with their neighbors. You long for many things when you migrate far away and they come to have a different, almost sacred meaning. Life in Palestine has a lot of unique characteristics given the affection and sense of fraternity amongst individuals in society. Unfortunately, this life has been marred by the Israeli occupation, its checkpoints and the racist separation wall, which upsets the mood of anyone coming back to visit after a long absence. The ill-treatment at these checkpoints that prevent people from meeting their families and deprive them of pleasant memories in their homeland leaves them with pain and anguish in their hearts. Father Ibrahim is one of the thousands of Palestinians who were barred from visiting and had to return to where they came from, burdened with this bitter experience that only increases their sense of yearning. For the persistence of memory does not let them forget anything beautiful in their memories.

Three paintings, Acrylic on Canvas

The cactus painting series symbolizes the Palestinian individual - there seems to be a close relationship between Palestinians and this plant, which revolves around the power of both to survive under hardship (known as sumud in Arabic) and endure a tough life. The cactus blooms and bears sweet-tasting fruit, while Palestinians continue to exist, holding on to their past with which they build the future for the coming generations.

Highlights of the interview with
Khader El-Yateem, conducted by
Aristo Prabowo and Loubna Mrie

Father Khader El-Yateem (b. 1970) is the pastor of Salam Arabic Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, NY. Born in Beit Jala, Father Khader lived in Palestine until 1989. In that same year, while studying at a seminary, he was imprisoned for 58 days without charge by the Israeli authorities and was exiled after his release. He has been living in the US since 1992. Artist’s statement translated by Suneela Mubayi.